WPY 2011

Beneath the surface

Oil gushes to the surface near one of the relief wells, brought in to attempt to cap the damaged Deepwater Horizon wellhead, which had already sunk. 'This was a crazy day,' says Daniel. 'A lot of work was going on, with helicopters constantly landing and taking off from the boat's helipad.' He says he 'was blown away by the insane colours' - possibly the result of underwater work or some kind of chemical interaction with the dispersants being used. 'Flying over the disaster makes you grasp the immensity of the problem and the scale of the task.'

From sea to air

One way to try to get rid of the oil was to burn it. After take-off one day, Daniel and his pilot spotted plumes of black smoke on the horizon. A cloud ceiling meant they had permission to fly a little lower, and so Daniel had a rare opportunity to take photographs a little closer. It also meant inhaling acrid smoke. In total, 411 controlled burns took place. Some 5,300 hired vessels helped with the clean-up by, for example, tugging booms to contain the oil.

Toxic beauty

'This is what the oil spill mostly looked like, for miles and miles, from one corner to the other,' says Daniel. 'Visually, the textures, hues and patterns of the oil were striking.' Asked why he made images of the oil spill that look beautiful, he answers, 'It was not my original intention, but photographs of disasters are often harsh. This set of images wouldn't look out of place in an art gallery, where families could look at them and discuss them. It's a route to understanding that doesn't depend on shock. I think it helps get the message to a wider audience, because if the image is aesthetically appealing, people are more likely to stop and read the caption.'

Crimson crude

Gentle waves nudge bands of thick crude oil into curves of orange, red and burgundy. These were the heaviest oil slicks Daniel saw in the month he spent photographing the spill. They were also the most impressive. But he knew that, 'without a reference point, you could be looking at a splash of oil in a puddle.' Eventually, towards the end of the flight, one of the many boats involved in the clean-up motored in, perhaps to take samples, disturbing the gruesome pattern. Surface oil like this would end up washing ashore on the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida coastlines. How much remained below the surface is unknown.

Oil print

Criss-crossing the patches of black oil are paths of clean water, the tracks left by boats involved in attempts to cap the well. It's not clear what caused the flashes of fluorescent orange. They may have been a reaction caused by the propellers churning up toxic chemical dispersants - Corexit 9,500 and 9,527 - 9 million litres (2 million gallons) of which were poured onto the oil in an attempt to break it up. Whatever the cause, the visual effect lasted only a few moments. Here, the boat passed from top right to bottom left, and the orange lights at the top are already fading. As always, Daniel had to work fast and intuitively, photographing from the open window of the plane.

Still life in oil

Crude oil trickles off the feathers of the rescued brown pelicans, turning the white lining sheets into a sticky, stinking mess. The pelicans are going through the first stage of cleaning at a temporary bird-rescue facility in Fort Jackson, Louisiana. They've already been sprayed with a light oil to break up the heavy crude trapped in their feathers, which has turned their normally pale heads orange and their brown and grey feathers mahogany.

Photograph Details

Winner 2011

Wildlife Photojournalist Award

Daniel Beltrá, Spain

The price of oil

Flying over BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 made Daniel grasp the immensity of the problem. Relief wells, 5,300 hired vessels, two million gallons of toxic chemical dispersant and 411 controlled burns were used to try to cap the sunken wellhead and get rid of the oil. Photographing from a plane, Daniel 'was blown away by the insane colours' of oil gushing to the surface. He captured flashes of fluorescent orange as the boat propellers churned up the dispersant and left paths of clean water through the patches of black oil. The heaviest and most impressive slicks were bands of thick crude oil nudged into orange, red and burgundy curves by the waves. Surface oil like this would end up washing ashore on the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida coastlines. How much remained below the surface is unknown. Oiled brown pelicans awaiting a second bout of cleaning were for Daniel, 'an icon of the disaster'.

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Daniel Beltrá, Spain

A Spanish photojournalist based in the USA, Daniel specialises in environmental and conservation stories. A fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), he works regularly for Greenpeace and has won several prestigious awards for his photojournalism, which he hopes will inform people and inspire action.